LIVERPOOL are to open contract talks with Jamie Redknapp this week and that has to be good news for all concerned.

LIVERPOOL are to open contract talks with Jamie Redknapp this week and that has to be good news for all concerned.

If a deal can be agreed it would be a well deserved reward for all of Jamie's hard work over the last 18 months.

Successfully coming back from a serious injury is one of the most difficult things you can do as a footballer.

If your attitude isn't spot on and you don't put the work in then there is every chance you will never make a full recovery.

But Jamie has been 100 per cent committed since he signed for Liverpool over a decade ago and that passion for the club never wavered once while he was injured.

He wants to stay at Anfield and is determined to force his way back into the first team on a more regular basis.

Even when he hasn't been playing too often this season he's made no noises about leaving and has showed he is prepared to be patient.

It's a squad game now and I think some of the other Liverpool players who aren't playing regularly should look to Jamie as an example of how to handle missing out.

Igor Biscan, Bernard Diomede and Vegard Heggem are three players who must feel like they are banging their

Berger on his way back>

PATRIK BERGER is still gradually returning from injury but I think it will take time before he's back to his best.

He hasn't quite had the impact he would have been hoping for since making his comeback but is getting stronger all the time.

I'm a big fan of the Czech international and I think he is a great player to have at the club.

There aren't many quality heads against a brick wall at times.

Liverpool are playing so well at the moment and have such a strong squad that they can't get a look in.

Now they have got to decide if they take a leaf out of Jamie's book and work hard to try and establish themselves or look for a move away from the club.

The work permit situation has made things difficult for Biscan but I feel there is still a lot to come from him.

He was thrown in at the deep end when he first arrived and put in some excellent performances but since then has struggled to make an impact.

I think it also took him time to settle in England and that affected his form. But he is still only young and has enough about him to be a useful member of the Liverpool squad.

Diomede and Heggem have both been held back by injuries and have found breaking into the team difficult.

They are both good enough to play in the Premiership and the fact that a World Cup winner like Diomede cannot get a game says more about the strength of the squad Gerard Houllier has built than anything else.

If they want to prove they have a future at Liverpool then following the example Jamie Redknapp has set would be a good way to start. left-sided midfielders in world football at the moment but Berger is one of them.

He is also an excellent player to bring on from the bench because he can change a game. His pass for Michael Owen's winner in the FA Cup final highlights perfectly the influence he can have as a substitute.

It won't be long before Berger is back to his best.

Derby delights await hard working Heskey>

IF ever a player has deserved a goal then it's Emile Heskey.

His overall workrate and contribution to the team this season has been outstanding, but because he hadn't found the net since August he drew some inevitable criticism, particularly after the England game a fortnight ago.

I said a few weeks ago in the ECHO that all he needed was a goal and suddenly everyone would say how well he is playing and that is what has happened.

The goal drought will have played on his mind a bit but not any longer and he will go into Saturday's game at Derby full of confidence.

Pride Park is a ground that holds happy memories for Heskey. He scored an excellent hat-trick there last year that kick-started his season and I'm sure he will be hoping for something similar.

When you aren't scoring goals you go into games hoping you will score. But when you are on a good run and the next game is at a ground where you've done well in the past then you go into the game knowing you will score.